On July 18th of this year (2017), the Ordo Sororitatis Satanicae created and later sent Sunshine Requests to four Missouri government agencies, including: Custodians of Records – Missouri Senate, House, Auditor, and the Office of Administration.

We did so without legal representation, exercising our legal rights as citizens to demand information under Missouri’s Sunshine Law. We specifically requested documentation of detailed cost expenditures associated with Missouri Governor Eric Greitens “Special 2nd [Extraordinary] Session,” which ended on July 26, 2017. This session was used to determine the expanse of our reproductive rights in Missouri, along with legalizing the ability to use one’s religious beliefs to discriminate against others based on their legal reproductive choices.

During this 2nd Special Session, the lack of transparency within the Missouri General Assembly and the Office of Governor Eric Greitens, [with regard to the] failure of Missouri Government to produce an updated “Special 2nd Session” cost report, led Governor Greitens to accusing the media of cost speculating, fabrications, and spreading misinformation.

Weare not the media. We are The People. As Sacrament to Personal Honor, whereby we as Sisters, Brothers, & They, are Beholden to Investigate wherever truths have been hidden, to research, and to reveal for the Good of All. The possibility of exorbitant “Special 2nd Session” costs (with the Missouri budget currently under duress, funds meant for children in need being cut, or as in TANF, nefariously misappropriated to faux “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”) is a subject of contention that must be better understood. What the state does with our budget is our business. Albeit an undertaking, in such duplicitous circumstances, only careful examination will reveal the truth.

The Ordo has received USPS confirmation receipts and responses from all agencies requested. In brief:

– From the Missouri Senate Office, Adriane D. Crouse responded with a figure of $31,678.10 to date, with final records being available August 4th.

– From the Missouri Office of Administration, Kristen Paulsmeyer is “unable to distinguish open records responsive to your request.” They did offer to send a “report of payments made from June 12, 2017 through July 26, 2017 that would be all inclusive of every expense paid by the House and Senate during that time period.” However, they denied our request as a religious entity to waive costs associated with this record request, which would be billed at $15.00 per hour.

– From the Missouri House, David Welch responded by first announcing the House would be “unable to waive the costs associated with your sunshine request, the cost will be; $10 per hour or fraction they’re up for clerical time, actual cost for professional time, and $.10 per page for copying.” He goes on to get tangled in the idea this was a form letter addressing several agencies in one, stating we must make the request specific to the agency.

Our Ordo will respond in kind, clarifying matters to those agencies requesting such, and will keep our brethren and comrades informed of our progress. The best outcome is one where these government agencies choose to honor our request with an applied ethics befitting of their elected offices; thereby producing the ever elusive transparency in government we seek. Our seeking is guided by the principles of science, data, and evidence, and through these acts of discovery we endeavor to fulfill our religious adherences.